President Barack Obama shows off a ear of corn grown by a farmer participating in the Feed the Future program as he tours the Faffa Food factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

President Barack Obama laughs after commenting on the press corps, who were wearing hair nets on a tour of the Faffa Food factory. “You didn’t get the memo about the baseball caps?” President Obama joked

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President Barack Obama walks to Air Force One with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, as he departs Bole International Airport on the final day of his visit in Ethiopia. Closing a historic visit to Africa, President Barack Obama urged the continent’s leaders to prioritize creating jobs and opportunity for the next generation of young people or risk sacrificing future economic potential to further instability and disorder

Production at American factories rebounded, claims for jobless benefits fell to a 14-year low and households held the most optimistic views in two years, signs the world’s largest economy is overcoming a global slowdown. Manufacturing output climbed 0.5 percent in September, springing back from a 0.5 percent drop the prior month, as factories pushed out more computers, appliances and building-supplies, according to Federal Reserve data issued today in Washington. Other reports showed the momentum is being sustained as the fewest workers since April 2000 filed applications for unemployment insurance last week and more consumers said this month that the economy will get better.

The reports bolster forecasts that the U.S. expansion will survive the weakening in Europe and emerging nations that has roiled global financial markets. American consumer spending, which accounts for almost 70 percent of the economy, is likely to strengthen as employment keeps growing and confidence climbs. Ford Motor Co. is among those automakers that remain upbeat. The second-biggest U.S. carmaker is adding workers at its Dearborn, Michigan, plant as it prepares for its new aluminum-bodied F-150 pickup. The truck is scheduled to arrive in showrooms by the end of the year. “These new jobs will help meet anticipated customer demand,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas, during an Oct. 13 announcement. The company has hired more than 23,000 employees since 2011.

Rolling Stone: …. When Obama 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe likened the campaign’s email list to a television network in his campaign memoir, it was a rough analogy. But for the revamped Obama 2012 campaign, the meaning is quite literal. The YouTube and social media revolution of the last four years has given the campaign the power to produce and disseminate powerful video content that it can broadcast to a highly targeted audience of millions, effectively for free.

….. The folks in Chicago have spent next to nothing on television ads. Yet the campaign’s digital team – the biggest squad by far in Obama 2012’s massive headquarters in a downtown skyscraper – is quietly churning out nearly a video a day, designed to reengage Obama supporters, activate new volunteers, or persuade fence-sitting independents.

…. We’re seeing something really new in the history of presidential politics develop out of Chicago. This is a social-media-optimized campaign …. All of this direct communication with targeted voters is happening without the advice or consent of the mainstream media, in ways that David Plouffe could scarcely have imagined just four years ago. Meanwhile, the Mitt Romney campaign website looks like it’s still trying to catch up to Obama 2008.

Pew Research: The gender gap in presidential politics is not new. Democratic candidates have gotten more support from women than men for more than 30 years. Even so, Barack Obama’s advantages among women voters over his GOP rivals are striking.

In the Pew Research Center’s most recent national survey, conducted March 7-11, Obama led Mitt Romney by 20 points (58% to 38%) among women voters. It marked the second consecutive month that Obama held such a wide advantage over Romney among women (59% to 38% in February).

MSNBC: …. a new NBC News/Marist poll shows President Obama holding a sizable advantage over his Republican opposition in Wisconsin, which he carried in 2008 but where Republicans made big gains in the 2010 midterms.

Benefitting Obama is growing optimism about the state of the economy (52 percent believe the worst is behind them), as well as a more negative perception of the Republican Party (48 percent say the Democratic Party does a better job in appealing to those who aren’t hard-core supporters, while just 32 percent say that about the GOP).

Bloomberg: The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level in almost four years, adding to evidence the U.S. labor market is strengthening.

Initial jobless claims fell 5,000 in the week ended March 24 to 359,000, the lowest since April 2008, the Labor Department reported today in Washington…..

Companies are retaining workers and hiring as sales improve along with confidence in the expansion. The pace of employment has gained momentum in the past three months, helping drive income growth that may ease the strain of higher gasoline prices.

…. The U.S. jobless rate could drop to as low as 6 percent by the first half of 2013, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

E.J. Dionne: Three days of Supreme Court arguments over the health-care law demonstrated for all to see that conservative justices are prepared to act as an alternative legislature, diving deeply into policy details as if they were members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Senator, excuse me, Justice Samuel Alito quoted Congressional Budget Office figures on Tuesday to talk about the insurance costs of the young. On Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts sounded like the House whip in discussing whether parts of the law could stand if other parts fell. He noted that without various provisions, Congress “wouldn’t have been able to put together, cobble together, the votes to get it through.” Tell me again, was this a courtroom or a lobbyist’s office?

It fell to the court’s liberals — the so-called “judicial activists,” remember? — to remind their conservative brethren that legislative power is supposed to rest in our government’s elected branches.

CNN: President Barack Obama holds a double-digit lead over GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in hypothetical general election matchups, according to a new poll.

And a CNN/ORC International survey released Wednesday also indicates that the president’s approval rating has inched over the 50% mark in CNN surveys for the first time since last May, when the polls were still registering the after effects of the death of Osama bin Laden. The number of Americans who say the economy’s in good shape has jumped 13 points since January, though the survey shows a majority still think it is in poor shape.

If the general election were held today instead of in early November, 54% of registered voters say they would back Obama, with 43% supporting Mitt Romney … That’s up from a five-point 51%-46% advantage the president held over Romney in February.

And Obama would have a 55%-42% lead over Santorum …. the president led Santorum by a seven-point 52%-45% margin last month.

Mediaite: In recent weeks and months, there has been much made about the frequent “rich guy gaffes” that Mitt Romney has been making …. these gaffes seem to show the candidate can’t relate to the people he wants to lead …. Today he made yet another one. Perhaps Chris Matthews was right; this guy just isn’t “trainable”.

So, what did he do this time? Well, Romney called in to a “telephone town hall” in Wisconsin where he talked up his support of Gov. Scott Walker and Rep. Paul Ryan. All good, right? You’d think, but, at towards the beginning, Romney decided to tell a funny story about his history with the state of Wisconsin and … just see for yourself.

ABC: …. Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement: ”The only things more out-of-touch than Mitt Romney’s ‘joke’ about his dad closing a factory are his policies that would give massive tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires and allow insurance companies to discriminate against individuals with pre-existing conditions. He continues to be callous about the struggles that ordinary Americas face and his policies would make it harder-not easier-for anyone but the very wealthy to succeed.”

Sun Times: The eagerly-anticipated “Biggest Loser” makeover episode is here, and this season, it’s bigger than ever. First Lady Michelle Obama guest stars in a two-part celebration that whisks the contestants away to the White House to reunite with their loved ones, and take part in the show’s first-ever White House workout. The episode will air as two, one-hour episodes on Tuesday, April 3 (8-9 p.m. ET) and Tuesday, April 10 (8-9 p.m. ET).

President Obama shakes hands as he arrives at Gerald Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 11

President Obama holds a battery as talks with Amanda Spore during his tour of Johnson Controls

President Obama waves to an employee in a “clean” facility during a tour of Johnson Controls Inc. in Holland, Mich., Aug. 11. Elizabeth Rolinski, vice president of operations at Johnson Controls Inc., right, accompanied the President during the tour of the advanced battery facility

President Barack Obama arrives to speak at Johnson Controls Inc. in Holland, Mich

President Obama holds a sleeping baby boy as he visits Ross’ restaurant in Bettendorf, Iowa, June 28

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Des Moines Register: ….. The president then made good on a 2008 campaign promise today, making a quick stop at Ross’ Restaurant in Bettendorf. The diner is off Interstate-74 on the way to Alcoa, which is in nearby Riverdale.
Three years ago, Obama talked with an owner, Cynthia Freidhof, at a town hall meeting, in August, 2008, and pledged to come here.

The president greeted Cynthia with a hug, as she walked through the door. She later said she didn’t know he was coming to the restaurant until he arrived. She had stepped to the street to watch his motorcade pass and then was told he was inside.

“You are so awesome,” Cynthia told the president as they hugged.

….“I think he’s a man of his word, always, and he’s doing the very best job that he can and I just can’t believe he’s here, but it’s real,” Freidhof said….

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President Obama tours Alcoa Davenport Works Factory prior to speaking on the economy in Bettendorf, Iowa

A rise in demand for long-lasting manufactured goods in May suggests the parts shortage stemming from the Japan crises is fading. It would also support the view offered by many economists, who have suggested that the economic slowdown is temporary and that growth will strengthen this summer after six dismal months.

Still, the projected growth won’t be enough to make a noticeable dent in the unemployment rate, which was 9.1 percent last month.

….Economists have largely blamed the sluggish stretch on high gas prices, which have come down since peaking in early May. They have also cited the impact of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which has led to supply disruptions that have hampered U.S. manufacturers.

Factory production is starting to rev back up. Durable goods orders rose 1.9 percent, the Commerce Department said. Companies stepped up requests for machinery, computers and cars, and a key category that measures future business investment rose.

It was a solid turnaround after orders fell 2.7 percent in April, at the height of the parts shortage.